UPPER-CANADA-L Archives
Archiver > UPPER-CANADA > 2000-10 > 0971706107
From: <>
Subject: [UPP-CAN] MOST WANTED ANCESTOR: Annie RAE
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 10:21:47 EDT
Annie Rae was born 30 Nov 1807 in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. About 1833, she
married Mathew Houston in Fergus, Wellington Co, Ontario. Their first three
children were born in Fergus: John, Jennett, and Jane C. (Jean C.). They
resided in Ontario until about 1840, when they moved to Battle Creek,
Allegheny Co., NY, where they stayed until about 1857, when they arrived in
Pleasant Valley, St.Croix Co WI. They stayed long enough to appear in the
1860 U.S.Census before moving to Big River, Pierce Co WI. In the 1870 Census
for Prescott, Pierce Co WI, Annie was a widow living with her youngest son
(unmarried farmer age 21) and children (?) aged 15, 12, 2 and 10mos. The
cemetery in Prescott has a tall monument at their graves with the birth dates
and places for both Annie and Mathew.
I would love to find the names of her parents and other details of her
origins.
Pat
Annie was literate, though Mathew was not. Family tradition states that she
quoted Robert Burns endlessly and seemed to know every word he wrote. In her
old age, she was said to smoke a corncob pipe. Another family tale stated
that she attended finishing school in Edinburgh and that Mathew was the
stableboy, son of the family gardener, and that she ran away to Canada to
marry him. (I do not necessarily believe any of this, but I had fun in
Edinburgh and Dumfries trying to find her back in the 80's!)
This thread: